East Coast Ramblings of a West Coast Girl

Another weekend in Paris. This time, it was quite relaxing. I went to DISNEYLAND PARIS, which was phenomenal, and then on Saturday I had a nice breakfast of banana pancakes and lots of coffee in mine and a friend's favorite coffee-getting place: Breakfast in America. Who knew that I'd miss America so much?

Then went on to Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) and there was this man singing covers of great songs with his guitar. He was amazing! In essence, we got a free concert. A freaking awesome free concert, to be exact.

I'm just so relieved that the papers, the dossiers, the midterms are finally over with. However, I am not happy that I still need to wait three more weeks for Spring Break. Agh! It was terrible planning on the part of NYU and the French University system. NYU in Paris really gives us a good taste of life in France because it does not give us Spring Break until all of the other universities in France have their spring break. This means that we have a whopping two weeks of classes after Spring Break, which, of course, kind of sucks. It's kind of cool, but kind of not just because we have finals to "look forward" to.

I've made a critical decision in my life: this summer I am going to go to New York to do an internship. I've already applied for housing. I've already sent in my resumes.

I've just realized what a big step this is.

Here I am. In Paris.

Home: California.

Distance: Far.

Just today as I was shopping for jeans (wishing that I could buy jeans at Gap -- simple, American Gap that gives you a plethora of sizes and doesn't assume that all women are under a size 4), I had a pang of homesickness. Maybe it was because of Gap, and the casualties of American lifestyles, the smiles on the streets, and the cheap(er) shopping. I tried on 500 pairs of jeans and each time I groaned and wished my mother were there to tell me if they suited me.

Then I groaned again, wishing I hadn't wished that my mother were here to tell me what to wear.

Basically, once I go home, I'll have two weeks, and then it's off to New York. Or rather, that's the plan. But I'm sure I'll be back home in California for August. Right? We'll see.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm uprooting myself in order to actually get myself rooted. Yes, I've said a mouthful again. Being far from my parents for so long certainly isn't anything typically "new" since I have had already gone through a few 3-4 month spans without them. But this is actually being continually away from them. Away from them, away from my best friends. Why must I be so sadistic, I ask myself. Why?

Sometimes it really is just necessary for me to learn how to grow without them. I do love my parents and take their advice very seriously, but when I end up shopping and wishing that my mother were here to give me their opinion, there's some growth that needs to take place.

Little do we know that we are adults. Somehow being in college, you are liberated, but you still feel that feeling of "I think I need to ask Mom and Dad..."

Imagine what awaits you once you step out of the gates of higher education...